Table 1.
Patient Characteristics on Day of Hospitalization
| Characteristics | ICU Admission |
P Value | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Early | Late | None | ||
| Total study population, No. | 1,275 | 432 | 5,742 | |
| Demographics | ||||
| Age, median [interquartile range], y | 67 [56, 77] | 67 [56, 78] | 68 [56, 81] | .703 |
| Male sex, No. (%) | 659 (52) | 222 (51) | 2,562 (45) | .001 |
| Black race, No. (%) | 243 (19) | 93 (22) | 1,139 (20) | .671 |
| Social and medical history, frequency (%) | ||||
| COPD | 657 (52) | 197 (46) | 2,621 (46) | < .001 |
| Renal disease | 523 (41) | 168 (39) | 1,494 (26) | < .001 |
| Diabetes mellitus | 473 (37) | 163 (38) | 1,797 (31) | < .001 |
| Congestive heart failure | 462 (36) | 173 (40) | 1,489 (26) | < .001 |
| Obese | 455 (36) | 149 (34) | 2,011 (35) | .703 |
| Current smoker | 459 (36) | 138 (32) | 1,746 (30) | .073 |
| Stroke | 184 (14) | 59 (14) | 713 (12) | .671 |
| Neoplastic disease | 164 (13) | 66 (15) | 760 (13) | .703 |
| Chronic renal failure | 131 (10) | 35 (8) | 362 (6) | .143 |
| HIV disease | 14 (1) | 6 (1) | 90 (2) | < .001 |
| Physical examination findings | ||||
| Altered mental status, No. (%) | 541 (42) | 80 (19) | 786 (14) | < .001 |
| Heart rate, median [interquartile range], beats/min | 115 [99, 131] | 110 [94, 124] | 103 [90, 116] | < .001 |
| Respiratory rate, median [interquartile range], breaths/min) | 29 [24, 35] | 24 [21, 28] | 22 [20, 24] | < .001 |
| Systolic BP, median [interquartile range], mm Hg | 97 [84, 118] | 112 [96, 133] | 119 [104, 137] | < .001 |
| Diastolic BP, median [interquartile range], mm Hg | 48 [40, 58] | 56 [46, 67] | 59 [51, 69] | < .001 |
| Temperature, median [interquartile range], degrees Celsius | 37 [37, 38] | 37 [37, 38] | 37 [37, 38] | .703 |
| Laboratory & radiographic findings, median [interquartile range] | ||||
| Hematocrit level, % | 35 [30, 40] | 34 [30, 39] | 36 [32, 40] | < .001 |
| Serum bicarbonate, mEq/L | 25 [21, 29] | 26 [22, 29] | 26 [24, 29] | .186 |
| BUN, mg/dL | 26 [16, 41] | 24 [15, 36] | 18 [12, 26] | < .001 |
| Serum glucose, mg/dL | 166 [131, 228] | 150 [118, 204] | 137 [111, 185] | < .001 |
| Serum sodium, mEq/L | 137 [133, 140] | 137 [133, 140] | 137 [134, 140] | .466 |
| Pleural effusion, frequency (%) | 480 (38) | 189 (44) | 1,738 (30) | < .001 |
| Ventilatory support and vasopressors, No. (%) | ||||
| Invasive mechanical ventilatory support | 394 (31) | 20 (5) | 15 (0) | < .001 |
| Noninvasive mechanical ventilatory support | 305 (24) | 41 (9) | 209 (4) | < .001 |
| Vasopressors | 186 (15) | 6 (1) | 21 (0) | < .001 |